07.05.07
A Queens jewelry manufacturer may appeal to the state’s highest court after a judge ordered him to testify whether he thinks gays are repulsive and doomed to eternal damnation
The case involves a former worker who claims he was fired by Ted Doudak, president of Riva Jewelry Manufacturing, after coming out.
John Fairchild, 58, claims in a civil rights lawsuit that he was fired the day after he said at work that he is gay and his daughter is a lesbian.
The lawsuit alleges that Doudak called gays and lesbians “repulsive” and that he regularly quoted biblical passages at work.
During a pretrial hearing before a master rather than a judge, called discovery, Doudak refused to answer questions by Fairchild’s lawyer about the allegations claiming his views are constitutionally protected religious beliefs.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead A Queens jewelry manufacturer may appeal to the state’s highest court after a judge ordered him to testify whether he thinks gays are repulsive and doomed to eternal damnation.
The case involves a former worker who claims he was fired by Ted Doudak, president of Riva Jewelry Manufacturing, after coming out.
John Fairchild, 58, claims in a civil rights lawsuit that he was fired the day after he said at work that he is gay and his daughter is a lesbian.
The lawsuit alleges that Doudak called gays and lesbians “repulsive” and that he regularly quoted biblical passages at work.
During a pretrial hearing before a master rather than a judge, called discovery, Doudak refused to answer questions by Fairchild’s lawyer about the allegations claiming his views are constitutionally protected religious beliefs.
William Kaiser, Fairchild’s attorney, objected and went to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead.
Edmead ordered Doudak to answer Kaiser’s questions.
She ruled that no one can use their right to religious freedom “as a cloak for acts of discrimination.
In an interview with the New York Daily News Kaiser said that “a lot of discrimination against homosexuals has a religious motivation.”
Kaiser said that the ruling means: “People who hold those views have to know they can’t act on them with regard to employment.”
Doudak’s attorney, Todd Krakower, said the ruling may be appealed, saying that it could set a dangerous precedent.
“You’re attacking perceived religious affiliation in an attempt to make a claim,” Krakower told the Daily News. “He’s trying to prove a case through religious affiliation, and that’s improper.”